


v. where do you think you're going?

by tempestaurora



Series: the kids aren't alright [whumptober 2020] [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Running Away, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26773894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tempestaurora/pseuds/tempestaurora
Summary: Five was looking for his siblings.One, Three and Seven had all run away, and although Dad said they were sick, but Five didn't buy that for a minute. They must be hiding, and if they were hiding, Five would have to find them.Only, he'd already looked all over the house. Which meant he'd have to enlist Number Two's help to find wherever they were hiding out in the city.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves
Series: the kids aren't alright [whumptober 2020] [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930186
Comments: 34
Kudos: 181





	v. where do you think you're going?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: On The Run
> 
> this is a continuation of yesterday's whumptober prompt and part 1 of the runaway academy. i highly recommend reading that first
> 
> apology in advance for how overboard i go with diego's stutter i cannot seem to find a good balance lmao

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Five froze, peering around the corner in the training room where a stack of crash mats hid one of Number One’s favourite hiding spots. He slowly turned to look at his father, who was peering at him with a lot of utmost disdain.

“Training’s over,” Five said, his voice suddenly small, which he _hated._ “I was going to look for One and Three and Seven.”

Dad’s face turned icy cold. “One, Three and Seven are in _quarantine_ ,” he hissed. “You know as well as I do that One and Three broke the rules and visited Seven – they have to be kept away from you for your own good.”

Five sighed. They’d been gone for a week already, and Five had checked all their hiding places a few times. He knew Dad _said_ they were sick, but Two told him that he’d heard Dad talking on the phone about _finding_ the three of them, so Five was pretty sure they must just be hiding.

“With your siblings gone,” Dad continued, as Five moped away from the crash mats, “you and your other siblings will have more time to train in their stead.”

“But I just trained for a whole hour—”

“And you’ll have a five minute bathroom break before you do another hour,” Dad replied, and Five huffed, shuffling his way towards the bathroom.

*

“Where do-oo fink they wheely are?” Two asked as he brushed his teeth.

Five propped his elbows up on the edge of the sink, toothbrush in hand, waiting his turn to step on the stool. Grace, their newest nanny, whom Five had seen Seven throw across a room and yet get back up again (unlike their other nannies), was talking to Four and Six out in the hall as Four had some tantrum about his pyjamas.

“I looked everywhere,” Five sighed. “I don’t know where they are. They’re not this good at hiding.”

Two glanced down at him, dutifully brushing in a way that meant Five could tell he was counting how many times he sent the brush side to side and up and down. “Wha’ if they’re hi-ing ou-sigh the housh?”

Five paused. “You think?”

Two shrugged. He blinked at himself in the mirror and seemed to start up the count again.

“Besht hi-ing play-shes are ou-sigh the housh.”

Five thought about this and found that Two was probably right. There was the roof, which he couldn’t get to without jumping – he couldn’t jump much further than a metre, and it often drained him afterwards, left him all tired and sad – but up on the roof was a whole greenhouse that they could be hiding in. And there were other houses too! Lots of them all over the city. At least a hundred, Five thought.

He tapped his toothbrush against the side of the sink as Four yelled about his pyjamas somewhere behind him. If he was gonna find his siblings, maybe he had to search outside the house! And if he was searching out there, where he didn’t know where anything was, he’d need help.

“You wanna help me look?” Five asked Two. Two was good at finding things; he always managed to find lost socks and toy cars and missing pencils. He’d be the best at finding their missing siblings, even if they were all—what’s it— _quarantined_ because they were sick. He’d find where that was and they’d go get them, and Five thought that if they were _real good siblings_ they’d all get sick anyway. And then they could all be together while they felt gross.

Two shrugged and nodded at once, but before he could say anything, Grace had stepped into the room to check on his brushing.

“That’s very good, Two,” she smiled. She pointed to the timer on the sink, just as it went off, signalling two minutes, and Two spit the foam down the plug hole.

“Thanks, Mom,” Two said.

Number Two was the only one whole called Grace _Mom_ , because everyone else understood that she was their nanny, not their Mommy. But Five didn’t think it mattered, because Grace always smiled a little bit more whenever he did it, so he thought she didn’t mind so much.

She handed him the cup of water to wash his mouth out, then dried his face on the towel before sending him along to get dressed for bed. Two glanced back at him as he left the bathroom, and Five nodded – they’d have to figure out a plan to find their siblings when they were alone.

*

Five was the smartest of all his siblings. He didn’t think they’d agree, but that’s because they weren’t as smart as him, who could tell. Because he was the smartest, he knew more things than everyone else, and he could think up excellent plans really easy. Like getting to talk to Two alone about their hide and seek mission – it was easy when Five thought about it.

All he had to do was distract Grace when she was teaching them, and it was easy to distract Grace because she always paid attention when Four started crying. That morning, Five stole Six’s toy – they each had one stuffed toy, each a different colour so they wouldn’t be mixed up – and during class, he leaned over and whispered to Six that he had heard Four bragging about stealing it.

So then Six was yelling at Four, and Four was crying because he didn’t like being yelled at, and he also didn’t like being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and while they shrieked at each other, Five moved away from his spot between them as if he didn’t want to listen, and took the seat beside Two.

Two raised his eyebrows. “W-where did you p-p-p-put his toy?”

“Vent in the pantry,” Five replied. “One’s bedroom has a fire escape. We can climb down and go find them.”

“When?”

“This afternoon,” Five said. “After team training, when Dad will be focused on Six. It’s his day, and Dad said training sessions are gonna go longer with the others gone. So we’ll get _two hours_ instead of one before he notices we’re gone.”

Two nodded like this was a good idea, and Five whispered to him to meet outside Number One’s room as soon as training was over. Grace calmed down Six and Four and asked Five to return to his seat to continue the lesson.

*

Training _sucked_ without Number Seven there to make it interesting. Usually, in group training, Number One would act like he was better than everyone else because he could run faster, and Number Three would get out of training by rumouring whoever led the session – but Number Seven would always keep up specifically with Five and run the room with him, or stay to the same pace. Five thought it was because that way, if they both ended up being the slowest, no _one_ sibling was worst in the batch, and no one had to take the punishment alone.

Five thought Seven was the second smartest, after him.

Without Number Seven, though, Five had to run a bit faster and work a bit harder to make sure he wasn’t dead last. He didn’t want to make Six last, because he was about to have two hours alone with Dad and the scary tentacles in his stomach, and if it were Two, he might be made to stay late, so he tripped Four when Dad wasn’t looking and decided he’d make it up to him later.

After training (and a quick detour to return Six’s toy to his room), Five met Two outside Number One’s bedroom, and the two nodded.

“I’ve g-go-got-got my knives,” Two said, as Five slipped into One’s room. It was bigger than his, but Five personally thought all the rooms got smaller as the number got higher.

“We’re not gonna fight anyone,” Five replied with a frown.

“You don’t, don’t know that,” Two huffed. “They could’ve be-be-been taken.”

“Dad said _missing,_ right? Not _stolen_.”

“Dad said _sick_ , actually,” Two told him with a stern look, and Five gave him the point, before unlatching the window and shoving it up.

They were higher up than he remembered, but he took a deep breath and climbed out onto the fire escape, cringing at the noise it made. Two followed, and they lowered the window until there was a crack they could stick their fingers into to open it again, before they started down the ladders.

The metal shook and made scary noises as they went, but the two kept climbing until they reached the final ladder, that hung several metres up in the air. It wouldn’t budge and lower down further, so Five said, “I’ll go first and catch you.”

“You can’t c-c-catch me,” Two replied.

“Just watch me.” Five lowered himself down the ladder until he was at the bottom of it, then let his legs dangle, bit by bit, until he was holding onto the lowest rung by just his hands. He was glad, a little, that Dad made them train so much. He was only small, but having to keep up with Number One meant they were all at least a bit strong, Five guessed.

Once he was dangling, his arms shaking from the weight, he closed his eyes and focused on jumping, until he was in mid-air, landing suddenly on the ground.

He grinned up at Two. “I did it!” he called. “Come on!”

Two looked less excited than Five did, but climbed down the ladder anyway, before freezing and shaking his head.

“It’s too far,” Two said.

“I’ll catch you!”

“You’re five, Five,” Two said. “You couldn’t even catch a cold.”

Five rolled his eyes and looked around the alley down the side of the house. There was a massive bin nearby, and Five shook out his hands before telling Two to stay put. He was already tired from the jump, but he stepped over and wedged himself against the far end of the bin so he could push it over to the ladder. When it didn’t move, Five walked around it until he could see the stoppers on the wheels, and clicked them off. Then he pushed again, until he was tired and wheezing, and Two could jump from the ladder to the bin’s lid, and then down onto the floor.

“T-thanks,” Two said. “You okay?”

Five nodded, huffing. “Do you see any good hiding spots?”

Two looked around the alley, frowning, then pointed down to the busy street, around the front of the house. “Let’s look that way.”

The two trooped down to the street, where people walked fast and cars drove faster. Long lines of traffic and crowds surrounded them, and Two grabbed onto Five’s hand so they wouldn’t get lost. Five felt immediately sad, though – there were lots of places to hide out here, and his siblings could be anywhere.

They started off down the street, sticking together, and looking in all the hidey holes they could see. They crossed the road in the big groups that walked together, and turned corners while Two listed out all the places he might hide if he was One or Three or Seven. Then, when they grew tired, they stopped at a park, and sat on a bench, looking out across the grass, very disappointed by the turn of events.

Two asked, “W-why did they g-g-g-go without us?”

Five frowned. “If they could’ve brought us along, I’m sure they would’ve. What’s that, do you think?”

Two followed his gaze. “An obstacle course!” he cried suddenly. “One l-lo-loves them.”

“Maybe he’s there!” The two took off running to the obstacle course, set in a fenced off area of sand and woodchips. There were obstacles Five was familiar with, like rope walls and tunnels, but also new things; seats that swung on chains, and a long sheet of metal that other children sat at the top of and travelled to the bottom. He’d never seen them before, but the other kids laughed while they went.

“You think they’re training too?” Five asked when they entered. There were only a few other children, but they all seemed to have adults nearby, who watched from benches or helped them along the climbing bars.

“Maybe,” Two agreed. “Let’s-let’s look for One.”

They crawled through the tunnels and climbed up the rope wall, sitting at the top for the best view, and then used the _slide_ as one adult called the sheet of metal, before climbing onto the swinging seats and kicking their legs about. They ran the course until Two, standing at the top of the obstacle course by the wooden wheel, looking out over the park, said, “I don’t think he’s here.”

“Me neither,” Five agreed, before sliding down the pole. “How long have we been searching.”

“ _Hours,_ probably,” Two sighed. He span the wheel hard, once, before sliding down the pole to meet Five, who was suddenly concerned.

“Hours! But Dad will notice that we’re gone!”

Two’s face fell. “I forgot about that. What do we do?”

Five was the smartest sibling, so he had to figure out the plan. “We’ll have to stay away from the house until we find them, and then when we do Dad will be so happy that they’re back that he won’t even mind that we’ve been gone,” he decided.

“But if they’re _sick_ , won’t he be annoyed that they’re in the house?”

“They’re not actually sick, Two!” Five marched to the gate they came into sand pit from.

“Then why would he tell us that if it weren’t true?”

“Because he doesn’t want us to worry, _obviously_ ,” Five replied. “But we’re worried anyway, so we’ll go get them and take them home. Now, you’re the best finder, so where should we look?”

Two looked troubled still, but he turned in a full circle in thought.

“We should ask someone,” he decided, and before Five could reply, began marching off to the two ladies on the nearest bench. One was tall with dark skin, and the other shorter with light, and the two of them chatted while the taller one moved a baby buggy back and forth. Babies couldn’t use obstacle courses, Five thought, so she must have another child nearby.

“E-e-excuse me,” Two said, “we’re looking for our siblings, have you seen them?”

The women turned their way, concerned looks on their faces as they glanced between Two and Five.

“Well, I don’t know,” one lady said. “Where are your parents?”

“At home,” Five replied before Two could. He pointed to the nearest row of houses that overlooked the park. “Dad lives there. We’re looking for our siblings though, ‘cause they left the house without telling us.”

Their faces creased with worry. “Well, what are their names?”

“One, Three and Seven,” Two replied, and the ladies shared looks Five couldn’t decipher.

“One, Three and Seven,” one lady repeated slowly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Two said. “We c-can des-descri-descr—” Two cut himself off with a huff.

“We can describe them for you,” Five supplied, placing his hand on Two’s shoulder. “One’s tall and blonde, and we think he would come here because he likes obstacle courses. Three and Seven are girls – Three’s got brown skin like you, and curly hair, and Seven’s got brown hair and it’s long and straight—”

“S-S-Seven’s loud, and Three ge-gets everything she wants and One’s strong,” Two added.

The ladies looked at each other, and the shorter one said, quiet, “Is it weird that I saw three kids like that round the block the other day?”

The other one raised her eyebrows. “You _did?_ ”

“It’s the weirdest thing,” she replied, glancing warily at Five and Two as she went. “I heard my neighbours talking about these kids who just— _took over?—_ an apartment, and the owners just left because these children asked them to, and the neighbours, they called the police, right? Get the kids back to their parents – but apparently, the police said that the kids live there now, and it’s just _theirs_ , and left them to it.”

“Oh, my God,” the other lady replied.

“That sounds like Three’s handiwork,” Five told them. “She’s very persuasive.”

“And you’re very small to be using long words like _persuasive_ ,” the taller lady said.

Five narrowed his eyes into a glare. “I also know words like _dismember,_ and _decapitate,_ and _lacerate._ ”

The ladies stared at him. Two smiled brightly and said, “C-can you show us where they are?”

*

The apartment the ladies led them to, their children in tow, was on the second floor and had a big, heavy door. They clearly didn’t feel good about leaving them alone, so they came up in the elevator with them, and helped ask around with a passing neighbour about the apartment with the tiny children, and then they were stood outside apartment 2C, and knocking on the door.

When no one answered, Five said, “I’ll be back in a sec,” and flashed inside. Through the door, he could hear the ladies’ surprise.

From the front hall, Five noted the kitchen and the lounge, and a few closed doors in the apartment. Everything was empty, as far as he could see, so he turned around and jumped for the bolt lock before opening the door for the others. The group warily entered the apartment, and Two looked around with wide eyes, before calling, “One? Three? Seven? Are y-y-y-you here?”

There was a pause, and then a far door opened; One’s face peeking into the gap.

“Two!” he cried. “Five! Guys, it’s them!”

They poured out of the bedroom, rushing towards each other to say hello after the week apart. Five found himself lifted in One’s arms, before Seven pulled him into a hug. The ladies watched, their children’s hands stuck firmly in their own, as Five whispered in Three’s ear. She nodded at him before stepping past the group.

“I heard a rumour,” she said, “that this is totally normal to you, and you will leave and not cause us any problems.”

The ladies froze, though their children didn’t seem to grasp the rumour as easily. Then the ladies both smiled warmly, in tandem.

The taller one said, “I’m so happy we got you guys back to your siblings.”

“This is a wonderful home,” the shorter one added. “Have a good day, be good.”

Three walked them out of the apartment and locked the door back into place.

“W-what now?” Two asked Five, as the group of them looked at each other.

“Well, we found them,” he said. “Now we take them home, and—”

“No!” Seven cried. “We’re not going back.”

“You’re not _what?_ ”

“We’re staying here,” One agreed. “Dad locked Vanya in a cage—”

“Who is _Vanya?_ ” Five asked.

“I am!” Seven announced. “I’m Vanya, and One is Luther, and Three is Allison! We all picked new names! You can too now you’re a part of The Runaway Academy!”

Five blinked. “The what?”

“The Runaway Academy!” Three said. “We made our own name, because umbrellas are dumb and we’re not going home. We were going to take you next—”

“Yeah, come see!” One dragged them into the bedroom they’d run out of, where the wall was pasted with pieces of paper, drawn over in permanent marker. There was a drawing of their house and the rough layout of the floors, each labelled in Seven’s neat handwriting. Down the side was a list of steps to breaking out the four remaining siblings – it seemed the order would go Five, Six, Four and Two.

“Why am I last?” Two demanded.

“Because we voted on who we thought would last the longest with Dad’s attention,” Three said, prim. “And you’re his favourite after Luther, so he’ll be nicer to you for longer.”

“Why am I _first?_ ” Five asked.

“Because you’re the smartest,” Seven replied like it was obvious, which, Five guessed, it _was._ “And we’ll need your help to break out the others when Dad makes it more difficult because he _knows_ we’re doing it.”

Five considered this for a minute, looking over their plans as well as their new clothes. There was also a substantial wad of cash on the dresser that Five thought Three must’ve swiped somehow.

“Dad was mean to Vanya and locked her up in a cage with spikes on the wall,” One said. “We don’t want to go back. He caught us on the way out and would’ve punished us really bad if we stayed.” So Dad _did_ know they weren’t all sick.

“And he made me rumour Vanya into forgetting she had powers,” Three added, and Five looked at Two, alarmed. _Forget she had powers?_ How would she have grown up in a family of superheroes if she didn’t remember her powers?

“What do you think?” Five asked Two, who rocked back and forth on his heels.

“I wa-wa-want a re-re- _real_ name,” Two admitted. Three grinned and jumped over the bed to fetch a large stack of newspapers to thrust at him. “Dad’s mean, and I don’t wanna keep holding my breath underwater anymore.”

Five nodded. He didn’t want to go home without these four anyway, there was no point to that. “We’ll have to get Four and Six out soon,” he told them, to which they all nodded back. “And we’ll have to move, ‘cause those ladies knew about you guys being here, and Dad might find out and come get us.”

“Okay, okay!” Three agreed.

Five pulled a face, and looked at Two as he grinned and opened up the newspaper to a page of baby photos.

“But there’s one thing,” he said. “I’m not choosing a new name.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!! pretty please talk to me in the comments!
> 
> tomorrow: non-runaway fic; vanya and diego bond in a laundromat


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